RESIDENTS and visitors can have no excuse for walking on by Barnard Castle’s arts centre.
In an effort to boost The Witham’s profile, trustees have spent more than £29,500 lighting up the building and installing prominent banners.
The new-look was unveiled just before the clocks went back for winter. The scheme was paid for thanks to £20,000 from Teesdale Action partnership’s towns and villages funding, £9,300 from Durham County Council regeneration fund and almost £3,000 from The Witham.
Boosting the profile of The Witham was one of the main findings of consultants who were called in to look at the centre’s operation earlier this year.
Trustee Peter Hodges explained: “Our biggest challenge was to create visibility for the building.
“So many people, in the town and visitors, did not know where The Witham was and The Witham sits in the middle of a lot of old property with ‘The Witham’ carved into upper stonework which is difficult to see.
“The solution was to light the façade with some banners at right angles.”
The new lighting and banners are part of major changes are planned for The Witham which detractors claim looks like “an old council building that’s not being used” .
A glass front door, digital signage, an improved garden with outdoor bar and more storage capacity are among the improvements proposed.
The centre’s director Amy Hughes told members of the town council’s partnership committee that a capital funding bid for the work has been made to the Arts Council.
She added that the ways of generating additional income and changes to staff structure are also in the pipeline.
Ms Hughes said: “There is a lot of [positive] change to come to The Witham to try and increase secondary spend because it was discovered no arts centre can run on volunteers primarily and bring most, or all, of their income from primary ticket sales.”
Cllr Rima Chatterjee asked what consideration had been given to the front of the building because many tourists do not know The Witham exists.
Ms Hughes responded: “A lot of the feedback that we have is that it looks like an old council building that is not used. [We want to put in] a glass front door to make it look more up-to-date, welcoming, arts centre.”
Another plan is to improve the garden to the rear of the centre if the funding bid is successful.
Ms Hughes said: “We are looking to have a pergola installed on the bottom deck with a covered area so it can be used in the winter with heaters and a fire pit, and an outside bar.
“This bid is huge and there is a lot of work, from updating our tech and upgrading the garden area to storage solutions and digital signage for the front.
“If we don’t get the bid there will be a plan put in place over the coming years to prioritise what is quick and important.”
Ms Hughes concluded that part of her appointment as director is also to achieve NPO (National Portfolio Organisation) status for The Witham, which would ensure it receives annual grants from the Arts Council.
Only six NPOs exist in County Durham including Beamish Museum which received £436,776 last year, and The Bowes Museum which received £367,807.
